The Local Skinny! Duke Remote Area Medical Clinic Update

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The Remote Area Medical pop-up clinic that set up shop back in May provided $186,000 in free medical, dental and vision care to people who attended the weekend event.

Saajan Patel and Anvi Charvu, both upperclassmen at Duke University, helped to organize the two-day clinic and provided a follow-up report on Thursday’s The Local Skinny!

“The clinic went really well,” Patel said.

Health professionals were able to attend to 230 different patients who came to the parking lot of Vance Charter School where the pop-up clinic was held.

In addition to many children seeing a doctor for the first time, Patel said there were 30 dental cleanings performed, 92 tooth extractions and 140 pairs of glasses made on the spot to give to those in need.

This is the second year that RAM has had a clinic in Henderson, and Charvu attributed this year’s success to having more volunteers to help things run more efficiently and smoother.

“Our first year, we had a limited number of volunteers, so we had a limited capacity,” Charvu said. This year, clients could pretty much walk in and be served, she added.

Duke sophomore Grace Wang is helping to plan next year’s clinic, which will most likely take place in February 2024. Wang said she was impressed with the “amazing energy” of the volunteers and the health professionals who provided the care during the May clinic.

Don’t want to wait until February? There’s a RAM clinic at Nash Central High School in Rocky Mount this weekend, Patel said.

The pop-up clinics are “band aid” solutions to the overarching challenge of health care inequities, Patel said. RAM clinics are free and open to anyone – with or without insurance.

The May clinic demographics broke down like this: 48 percent of clients were African American, 20 percent were Hispanic; 79 percent had not completed a college degree and 64 percent had neither dental nor vision insurance.

“We want to continue expanding and educating everyone” on how to solve the challenge of health care inequity, Patel said. Wang said the RAM organizers are partnering with local agencies like the health department, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation and others to help make a difference.

“We want to support the health of this county in more ways than one,” Wang said.

Visit www.ramusa.org to learn more or to view the clinic schedule.

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Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Start preparing for season extension. Have your frost protection plan ready!
  • Should you apply lime to your lawn?
  • Clean up your garden. Take up and clean and store your vegetable trellis if vegetables are finished producing on the trellis
  • What should you do about moss? Stop fighting it?
  • Check fall vegetables for harlequin bugs. These insects are shaped like stink bugs. Black with red markings on back
  • Mowing tip: aim discharge chute away from flower and shrub beds to cut down on weeds.
  • October is a great time to collect your Soil Samples when we get some rain. 2 week analysis time.

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Perry Memorial Library

The Local Skinny! Events At Perry Memorial Library

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Perry Memorial Library patrons can check out books, sure, but the library offers a wide range of programs and services, not all of which directly involve reading.

Youth Services Director Melody Peters said, for example, that young people can come on each month on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. to learn how to crochet. Yep. Once someone expressed an interest, Peters and staff got busy figuring out how to make the request a reality.

“Someone who’s been doing this for a very long time is sharing” the skill with others, Peters said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

There’s a program request bin located just inside the library doors, and Peters said people are filling it with ideas. Want to make a suggestion for a workshop or other idea for programs at the library? Drop a note in the bin, she said.

As Halloween approaches, Peters said she sees an uptick in young people choosing books that have scary or spooky themes. She admits to being more of a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mystery gal herself, but she said she’s ordered some new titles that qualify for the horror genre for those adventurous readers.

Recently, a group of youngsters came in near closing time – already in their pj’s – to check out books (maybe for that evening’s bedtime reading). Peters said one of the children requested a particular title that was not available, but all was not lost. Peters said she helped her find another chapter book that was part of a series, so now maybe this young patron has another set of books to enjoy from the library.v

There’s always something to discover at the library. Visit https://www.perrylibrary.org/ to learn about available programs and services for youth and adults.

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The Local Skinny! Pink With A Passion Fish Fry Fundraiser Is This Saturday

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Join Pink With A Passion founder Amena Wilson Saturday, Oct. 14 at a fish plate fundraiser and festival at Warren County Middle School.

They’ll be serving plates from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. – eat in or take out – Wilson said. But fish isn’t the only item on the day’s menu, she said.

Numerous vendors will be on hand with items from jewelry to cosmetics and plenty of fair-style foods from food trucks for grownups and children to enjoy.

Stop in for fish, but stay awhile and enjoy the festival, Wilson said.

There also will be nurse practitioners on hand to share information about breast cancer awareness.

The goal is to sell 1,000 plates, and Wilson said they are well on their way to meeting that goal. Tickets are $10 each. Proceeds from the event go to help cancer patients at Maria Parham Health with costs associated with their treatment, she said.

Send checks to Pink With A Passion, P.O. Box 315, Warrenton, NC 27589. To learn more, contact Wilson at 252.213.5735.

 

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The Local Skinny! VGCC Craft Show Fundraiser Is This Saturday

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Information courtesy of VGCC Public Information Officer Courtney Cissel

 

The Vance-Granville Community College Foundation is sponsoring a fall craft show fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 14 to help fill the shelves of the school’s food pantry. The community is invited to come out from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The admission “price” per person is a donation of three food items that can be used in the food pantry – think canned goods, non-perishable items or paper products, organizers say.

VGCC Foundation Associate Director Sheri Jones said more than 45 vendors – many from the four-county area that VGCC serves – will be set up and ready for business Saturday.

“This is a way to stock our food pantry, as we have seen an increase in usage over the last few months,” Jones said.

All proceeds from the event will go toward stocking the shelves of the food pantry, which serves currently enrolled students, as well as faculty and staff.

Call 252.738.3323 or email douglasa@vgcc.edu to learn more.

VGCC students and employees in need of food pantry services may learn more at www.vgcc.edu/food-pantry.

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The Local Skinny! Pop The Hood: Winterize Your Vehicle

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For our sponsor, Advance Auto Parts, as part of a paid radio sponsorship on WIZS.

When the weather cools off, we think about taking steps to winterize our homes and our wardrobes, but what about our vehicles? There are a few key steps car and truck owners can take now to keep those vehicles in top running order through the cold winter months.

Is your car harder to start in the winter? It could be a faulty thermostat, weak battery or starter issue, said John Stevenson, WIZS’s resident expert.

“The number one thing is to make sure you have the right content of antifreeze,” Stevenson said, “not the level, but the mixture,” he added. A 50-50 ratio is recommended for most vehicles, but let the professionals at Advance Auto Parts help you select the right product for your vehicle’s needs.

Take a moment to get your battery tested, too. Advance can test your battery at no charge.

In anticipation of icy road conditions, taking a moment to inspect your brakes and tires is another way to make sure you stay safe.

And taking a peek under the hood to do a visual inspection on those cables, belts and spark plugs is not a bad idea, either.

One other item that drivers may overlook is washer fluid. There are different formulas, Stevenson said. “There’s all kinds of stuff that you would never think about,” he said. “That’s a good reason to check things out with the folks at Advance.”

The information contained in this post is not advice from Advance Auto Parts or WIZS.  Safety First!  Always seek proper help.  This is presented for its informational value only and is part of a paid advertising sponsorship.

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The Local Skinny! Vance And Granville Benefit From State Budget Appropriations

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State employees, current and retired, who live in District 32 join others across the state who will see bumps in salaries and retirement checks, thanks to provisions in the budget most recently approved in Raleigh.

In his first months in the N.C. House representing District 32, Frank Sossamon helped secure those provisions, but that’s not all the freshman representative has been busy with.

Sossamon has been involved in attracting a wide variety of programs and projects- with a pricetag of $44 million – to the district.

“I look forward to seeing the great impact these projects will have on my community,” Sossamon said in a press release. “This budget will allow our state to continue to receive recognition as a great place to own a business and live.”

In addition to salaries for teachers and other state workers, the state budget includes $2 billion for water and sewer improvement projects and more than $620 million for behavioral mental health programs. And Sossamon has secured large slices of the budget pie in those two areas to come right here to Vance and Granville counties.

Sossamon spoke with WIZS News Tuesday about being a legislator. “It’s amazing to me the kind of reception I’ve received from the very beginning,” he said, adding that he has been appointed to some important committees, including the powerful Appropriations Committee.

He said he talked with a lot of legislators to make sure District 32 was included in discussions. “I worked hard with every chairman and vice chairman. Not only did we do a proposal for each (project), but I verbally expressed why these projects need to be supported.”

And that hard work seems to have paid off.

Vance-Granville Community College is getting $11.5 million to create an Advanced Manufacturing Center in Granville County’s Triangle North Business Park. “It’s going to be a game changer,” Sossamon said. It will show prospective businesses looking in the area that District 32 can train workers and support business and manufacturing. “This is going to put us in a different position than we’ve ever been in” for recruiting business and industry, he said.

“This makes me feel good that this is now happening and moving forward,” he added.

And $10 million is flowing to the City of Oxford for water improvements with Kerr Lake Regional Water System.

Maria Parham Healthcare Center is getting $5 million to bolster its capacity and ability to improve mental health and substance abuse outcomes.

Other water and sewer projects – including $4 million for Vance County and $5 million for South Granville Water and Sewer round out the 7-figure awards.

Sossamon said the work he does in Raleigh is just part of the overall effort to effect change. “In addition to VGCC, Kerr-Tar COG and economic development leaders, he said “it takes every entity in the district, in each county, every municipality,” he said. “It takes all those, and others, to see these things come to fruition. Everybody has to be going – economically – in the same direction.”

Prospective businesses and industry choose communities for a variety of reasons, not just a pool of trained employees. Education and crime are key indicators, too, and Vance County is getting more than $691,000 to provide the sheriff’s office with body-worn cameras and support equipment. ”We have some appropriation chairs that are pro-law enforcement,” Sossamon noted. “Any time they can support law enforcement, they’re gonna do it.

Sossamon said he predicts the body cameras will be a morale builder for the sheriff and his officers. Having a state-of-the-art department will be a selling point for recruiting, he said.

I’m thrilled for Sheriff Brame,” he said. “I’m elated that this kind of money is coming to the different entities in Vance County to have a better quality of life.”

Hard work lobbying notwithstanding, Sossamon said he is pleased so far with the outcomes for his district.

“I’m trying to do all I can…(for) not just one, but every person.” And that’s what he says he’ll continue to do. “I really want to make our counties better than what they are now.”

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The Local Skinny! Home And Garden Show 10-04-23

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Start preparing for leaf collection. Plan to compost your leaves Do Not Burn Them!!!!!!
  • Save seed from coneflower, sunflower, marigold, rudbeckia, cosmos and others.
  • Check cole crops for insects. Ex Loopers, cabbage worms, Harlequin bugs.
  • Store leftover and collected seed in a cool, dry location.
  • Bring in Houseplants from outside before this weekend
  • If you overseed or reseed your lawn, avoid weed control products according to product instructions.
  • October is a great time to collect your Soil Samples!n 2 week analysis time.
  • Planting trees and shrubs? Start with a tape measure.

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The Local Skinny! Watkins Fire Dept. Fires Up The Grill

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Watkins Volunteer Fire Department is having is fall barbecued chicken and pork barbecue fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 6. Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Link said he and his fellow Watkins firefighters are preparing now to have plates ready beginning about 11 a.m.

Link said their May plate sales went so well that they upped the number of chicken halves to just over 900. Add the 250 pounds of chopped barbecue and you’ve got the makings for a delicious meal.

Chicken plates are $12, chicken/pork barbecue combo plates are $15 and 1-pound containers of pork barbecue are $10.

Prepping for a fundraiser of this type gets volunteers together, all working for a common goal. That fits right in with the philosophy that firefighters are part of a close-knit group.

“We preach brotherhood at the fire department, the fire service in general,” Link said. Whether it’s fire safety training or chopping barbecue and cutting cabbage for cole slaw, Link said firefighters work together like family to produce results.

“Everybody has a job,” Link said. Not everyone has the same skill sets to perform all jobs, but everybody can do something to contribute, he said. There’s an art to putting together a fundraiser like this one, he said. “It was passed on to me and now we are passing on” that knowledge to those young volunteers who may be new to the “craft of the barbecued chicken fundraiser.”

Call the fire department at 252.492.0600 or Link at 252.432.5219 (call or text) to place an order or arrange delivery.

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Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Cole crops may need top dressing with nitrogen.
  • Start controlling fire ants.
  • Check cole crops for insects. Ex Loopers, cabbage worms, Harlequin bugs.
  • Planting trees and shrubs? Planting depth is everything!
  • Control weeds in the garden. One weed left to seed out can produce 1000’s of weeds in your garden next year.
  • Sowing tall fescue? Soil/seed contact is essential.
  • Now is a great time to collect soil samples. Avoid the rush this fall. .2 week analysis time.
  • Fertilizing your lawn? Use a slow release product.
  • If you have vacant areas in your garden consider planting a cover crop. Ex Crimson clover

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